Sunday, June 29, 2008

It has been so long since I updated this blog. I sure do apologize. And I apologize for not checking for comments. I will be more professional about this. . .I promise.

So, I've been reading like crazy in order to escape reality. Between working with da yout' all day and taking my online classes, I've been a little stressed out. (Huge horselaff).

For ya fans, I've just finished Sarah Dessen's "Lock and Key." It's great. The characters are so well developed and the plot is really slice-of-life. And I think her dialog is so real. What can I say? I ripped right through it and I highly recommend it. I also just finished Stephenie Meyer's "Host." I'm a big fan of Twilight-New Moon-Eclipse, and am awaiting Breaking Dawn with all the rest of the devotees. . ."Host" was impressive, though let's face it--it's no Edward Cullen. I recommend it to Meyer-a-holics who need a "fix" until Breaking Dawn comes along.

Now you adult fiction readers, if you haven't read "Madonnas of Leningrad," it's a must-read. It's the story of a woman who is slowly succumbing to alzheimers, and who--in the words of the late-great Kurt Vonnegut, is coming "unstuck in time." Is she a museum tour guide living through the shelling of Leningrad and trying to rescue priceless works of art from destruction? Or is she an aging American housewife with two adult children who don't understand her "issues" and know almost nothing of her former life? The descriptions of life in Leningrad during World War II are gripping. The descriptions of the works of art in the museum are enough to make you cry. This is a beautiful story, and I highly recommend it for anyone.

And then I really enjoyed "People of the Book," by Geraldine Brooks, in which a young Australian scholar restoring a priceless Haggadah wonders about its provenance. We readers are able to travel back in time, era by era, tracing the progress of this rare incunabula from its creation in the 1400s to its re-discovery in 20th century Kosovo.

Right now I'm reading Jhumpa Lahiri's "Unaccustomed Earth," a series of short stories. She is wonderful at describing the lives and experiences of Indians living in the United States, especially second-generation Indians who were born here and are completely assimilated into the culture of the US. But she also paints poignant pictures of the somewhat befuddled adults who immigrated to the states and have been trying to make sense of our culture, sometimes for many years. This is a great book.

I'll try to be more faithful about this blog. Look for an update to the Pittsboro Library Book Club reading list soon!

Blog Archive

About Me

I am a youth services librarian at Lee County Library in Sanford, NC and have been here for three years. Before that I was at the Pittsboro Memorial Library for three years. Before returning to North Carolina in 2002 I was a senior editor with a library book publishing company in Chicago, Illinois. I attended Guilford College in Greensboro, NC and am closing in on my Masters of Library Science degree at North Carolina Central University. I am happy as a clam to be back in my adopted home state. Reading has been a main interest of mine since I was a child.